1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording method using two liquids, wherein an ink composition and at least one additional liquid are deposited onto a recording medium to perform printing.
2. Background Art
Ink jet recording is a printing method wherein droplets of an ink composition are ejected and deposited onto a recording medium, such as paper, to perform printing. This printing method is advantageous in that a high-resolution, high-quality image can be printed at a high speed using relatively inexpensive apparatuses. In general, the ink composition used in the ink jet recording comprises water as a main component and, added thereto, a colorant and a wetting agent, such as glycerin, for preventing clogging and other purposes.
On the other hand, regarding the ink jet recording method, the application of a polyvalent metal salt solution onto a recording medium followed by the application of an ink composition containing a dye having at least one carboxyl group has been recently proposed (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 202328/1993). The claimed advantage of this method is that the polyvalent metal ion combines with the dye to form an insoluble complex, the presence of which can offer an image having waterfastness and high quality free from color bleeding.
Further, the use of a color ink comprising at least a penetrating property-imparting surfactant, or at least a solvent having a penetrating property and a salt, in combination with a black ink capable of being thickened or coagulated through the action of the salt has been proposed in the art (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 106735/1994). The claimed advantage of this method is that high-quality color images having high image density and free from color bleeding can be yielded. Specifically, an ink jet recording method capable of realizing good images has been proposed wherein two liquids, a first liquid containing a salt and an ink composition, are printed.
Other ink jet recording methods, wherein two liquids are printed, have also been proposed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 240557/1991 and 240558/1991.
In recent years, color ink jet recording apparatuses for ink jet recording, capable of realizing improved image quality, have become used as an output device for photographs and also as a digital printer, a plotter, a CAD output device and the like. Images printed by means of color ink jet recording apparatuses, which have become widely used in the art, are considered utilizable in various forms. In particular, for photograph-like prints, gloss is required of images in order to enhance the texture. Further, high lightfastness is also required, because they are in many cases put for display in a place exposed to light emitted from a fluorescent lamp or direct sunlight in the open for a long period of time. Selecting a colorant having relatively good lightfastness or improving the lightfastness of the colorant per se is carried out as means particularly for improving the lightfastness. In many cases, however, it is difficult to simultaneously satisfy desired color tone and lightfastness. The addition of a commercially available ultraviolet absorber or a photostabilizer to the ink composition or the second liquid is considered effective for solving this problem. Since, however, most of the ultraviolet absorbers and the photostabilizers are oil soluble, the presence thereof in a satisfactory amount in the water-soluble ink composition is difficult.
Furthermore, in consideration of applications of records printed by the ink jet recording method and environments, under which the prints are used, the records desirably possess excellent waterfastness and rubbing/scratch resistance.
In addition, also for prints other than the photograph-like prints, in order to impart excellent aesthetic effect to records, there is an ever-increasing demand for better gloss.
The present inventors have now found that, in an ink jet recording method using two liquids, the deposition of an ink composition onto a recording medium followed by the deposition of a first liquid containing polymeric fine particles can improve the waterfastness, rubbing/scratch resistance and/or gloss of records.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an ink jet recording method which can realize printed images possessing excellent waterfastness, rubbing/scratch resistance, gloss, and lightfastness.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an ink jet recording method comprising the step of depositing an ink composition and a first liquid containing at least polymeric fine particles onto a recording medium to perform printing, wherein the ink composition is deposited onto the recording medium and, thereafter, the first liquid is deposited onto the recording medium in its position where the ink composition has been deposited.